Aiok
Classical Aiok was spoken in the period of 7500-6500 BK in the Western Nautli Islands. Phonology Consonants Vowels All vocalic phonemes can be traced back to the following constituents: /i e a o/. Syllable structure The syllable structure conforms always to ©©©©CVVV©. The syllable has a three-vowel underlying nucleus which generates the superficial nucleus The possible nuclei are represented in the following table. The three-vocalic nucleus generates the vowel phonemes, the palatal approximant, and tone. Example: Syllable structure and glossing: s~/'aii naee-seaep aiok. 2.Sgspeak good-very Aiok phonetic realization: nae:seáp ajok "You speak very well Aiok" The reason to state the three pre-established nucelus-vowels helps to understand the intricate morphology. Once kept in mind about which three vowels underlies which vowel, the morphology is easier to grasp. Pronouns Pronouns appear when distinction is required. Verb Conjugation Verbs conjugate only in person. Plural person is expressed by the combination of person markers. There is no third person morpheme, the verb remains the same as in the infinitive, which actually is a noun. Summary of building elements: Since each verb's nucleus vowels are part of the lexicon, there is much syncretism between the infinitive and certain conjugated forms. To distinguish them, the pronoun is put after the verb: niaad 'ieed "I go fishing" niaad "to go fishing" p'aiok ngiai "he/she/it sits near the fire" p'aiok x~k'oao "they sit near the fire" p'aiok "to sit near the fire" Transitives A transitive verb formally consists of a two intransitives-compound, as the following example clarifies: eat= eat(actor)+vanish(undergoer) àoki: niaad-seeen aookiii 1/eat-3/vanish fish 'I eat fish' love= love (tioid)+ be.affected (loaa) tísǁa: tioid-s~l~aaa 1/love-2.be.affected 'I love you' Notice the metathesis from ds~l~ to stl~ for euphonic means. The second verb in the compounds may realize clicks, but not ingressive fricatives. Focus construction The fact that each role is clearly defined for grammatical relations makes it possible to interchange the positions of each verb compounds. This is done to emphasize. ↓s↓ɬa:tíd s~l~aaa-tioid 2/be.affected-1/love "It is me that I love you" That means, the argument coded in the second verb of the compound is typically focused. Let's do an example with the verb to hit, which in aiok is semantically split into hit+feel pain. Evidently, this is only used for entities that feel pain. Transitive conjugation with undergoer in focus (default) Space, Time and Definiteness Deixis Aiok combines space-related, time-related and definiteness-related deictic elements in one form. It appears as an additional clitic to the word, regardless of a noun/verb distinction. Examples: Allophonic variation of personal affixes with tense and deictic proclitica: The table does not render analogical combination, Aiok has therefore a fusional and redundant conjugation pattern, eg: redundant '''person marking and '''fusional '''marking: ~lk'p'tl'aai ~-lk'-p'-tl<'>aai '''2-''D1/'2'.PST.INDEF''-'2'-worry<'2'> 'somewhere here you have been worrying about' Further examples: nouns: maoin: the bed here and now lmaoin: a bed now lk'miin: some bed of mine here and now. phrases: toaa "go" --> ng=toaa=liaed "go in the future not between us" --> ng=taa=liaed "I'll go here". dieap "lay"--> k'=dieap=liaed "lie in the future over there --> k'=dieap=liaed='iee "I'll lie overthere." 'aiek "suits" k'='aiek=liaed "suits in the future over there--> k'aiek'liaed "It will suit over there." maoin "bed" ngtiaaliaed k'dieapliaed k'aiek'liaed maoin. Redundant inner-compound clitics are factored out: -->[ngt'i'''aa'(liaed)' k'='['[dieap(=liaed)(='iee)(k'=)'aiek]'''liaed] --> ngtiaak'dieap'aiek'liaed ng'tiaak'dieap'aiekliaed maoin "I'm going to bed" ("I will go here, lay there, it will suit there, the bed)' màin. Text Sample < l~k'p'tl'aai nieeeseeen kaaipiia nlk'eeaptiion toaiseaod l~tl~iaadiaa? ngxliood saao?oao?iiatiaon ltl'iiid.> ↓ɬk'p'c͡ʎ̥'aai nieeseeen kaaipiia nɬk'eeaptiion toaiseaod ↓ɬǁiaadiiaʔ ŋx'ɬiood saao'ʔoaoʔiiatiaon ɬ'''c͡ʎ̥'iiid. [↓ɬk'p'c͡ʎ̥'ai nje:se:n kaipì: nɬk'eptí:n taisèad ↓ɬǁjadì:ʔ ŋxɬìod sà:'ʔòʔì:tjàn 'ɬ'''c͡ʎ̥'i:d.] Notes and References